It's about improving project performance.

Advanced Work Packaging (AWP)

AWP is a new method of designing and planning a construction project to improve project performance. In simple terms, it’s about making sure that the project is designed and planned to be easier to build, commission and start-up. AWP includes WorkFace Planning (WFP), which occurs when planning and executing work on site or in fabrication or module shops.

The AWP "surfboard" visual depicts awp & WFP across the project lifecycle, from setup to start-up.

WorkFace Planning (WFP)

WorkFace Planning is focused on the creation and execution of small, well-defined Installation Work Packages (IWPs) for the construction workforce. A typical IWP is one rotation of work (500 to 1000 hours) for one crew in one discipline. There may be times when smaller or larger packages are required, but these should be on an exception basis. The IWP release plan is the superintendent’s vision of how the work should be executed, and the WorkFace Planning group develops the packages.

Installation Work Packages typically contain...

Sign-off and Supporting Documents List

Table of Contents

Work Scope

Safety Information

QA/QC Information

Constraint Checklists:

Scaffold Request

Permits

Documents

Materials Lists

Tools and Consumables

Heavy Lifts

Progress Records

Lessons-learned Documentation

Engineering Drawings

Specs and Standards

Who are the WorkFace Planners?

IWPs are developed and managed by trained WorkFace Planners; typically skilled tradespeople with hands-on experience in supervision and field construction. The WorkFace Planners help the superintendents convert their vision into safe, effective and efficient work packages.

Projects are getting larger and more complex, but the workforce is aging. Older, more experienced workers and retiring and being replaced by a younger, very competent but less experienced workforce. Projects are routinely being fast-tracked and often started before engineering is complete. These challenges have contributed to declining productivity and reduced project performance.

In Canada and the United States, industry has been working to resolve this problem. The Construction Owners Association of Alberta (COAA) in Canada and the Construction Industry Institute (CII) in the US developed the Advanced Work Packaging: Design Through WorkFace Planning Execution model in 2011 and published the Advanced Work Packaging Implementation Guide in 2013. AWP is an approach supported by research shown to increase labor productivity by up to 25% while making projects significantly safer and reducing total project costs by up to 10% (as identified in CII RT-272, Volume 3).

Owners are starting to require contractors to implement AWP and WFP and progressive labor providers are now making training available to their memberships and signatories.